Whose Son Is He?
"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt 1:1).
The New Testament opens with a bold claim about who Jesus is: he is "Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt 1:1). There is already an avalanche of Old Testament anticipation on the doorstep of the New. Whose son is Jesus? Only as you are more fully aware of the Old Testament storyline will Matthew come into greater focus. The sonship of Jesus is deeply significant to Matthew's gospel, therefore, the theme is explored from multiple perspectives to create a portrait of this one and only, unique Son.
Matthew packs a significant amount into his opening assertion. In, what amounts to a sort of three-point outline, Jesus is declared to be the Anointed Savior (Christ means anointed) who is the perfect prophet, priest, and king (the anointed offices of Israel); the everlasting King who is both David's son and God's Son (see 2 Samuel 7:1-17); and, as the son of Abraham, the Gospel Blessing to every nation, not only to the Jews (see Genesis 12:1-3; Galatians 3:7-9). The predominantly Jewish audience to whom he wrote would not have passed by any of this quickly. The genealogy to follow would be far from dull to them. Many would have had adrenaline surging. Whose son is he? Jesus was either someone to fight or someone to embrace. But he certainly could not be ignored.
As Matthew progresses, the themes of sonship continue to emerge in significant ways. By the closing verse, you see that the evangelist has taken great care to present the "Son" from a multitude of angles, each contributing to the full picture of who Jesus is. The whole Jesus is who we are called to embrace. We need a whole Christ—this very Son. Matthew presents these angles through the lenses of real life characters who either confess or contradict the sonship of Jesus.
While, at present, we can only take time to survey one angle of the material, I desire to sketch a more complete portrait of this Son over the next few weeks.
Son of David
The following passage neatly summarizes the covenant that God made with David regarding his son, "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son" (2 Samuel 7:12-14a). This promised king will be heir to an eternal throne, David's own offspring, yet also the Son of God himself.
The Davidic covenant runs through all of Matthew. Jesus is declared to be David's son by the evangelist (1:1). He proves his point with genealogical records. (Some people think God should have left out those boring genealogies from Chronicles!) Notably, Joseph is called "son of David," not in the ultimate sense, but as a critical link in the chain to validate Jesus's claim as a legitimate heir to David's throne (1:20, but note the nuance in 1:16 which makes it clear that Jesus was born of Mary, not Joseph. He was born of a virgin). The chief priests and scribes acknowledged Bethlehem as the birthplace of David's son because the Christ, the ruler of Judah, the Shepherd-King was prophesied to be born there just as David was (2:1-6). Herod then seeks to destroy this son and others in the way (2:7-18).
Whereas some of the scribes (9:3), and Pharisees (9:11), and even the disciples of John the Baptist (9:14) question Jesus's authority, two blind men see the theological implications of Jesus's royal ancestry, beseeching King Jesus's mercy (9:27). Immediately following, in the healing of a demon-oppressed man, the contradiction of Jesus continues with the Pharisees accusing him of casting out demons "by the prince of demons" (9:34).
The crowd, in awe of Jesus's healing of a blind, mute, demon-oppressed man, questioned whether Jesus could be David's son (12:23). Certainly the expected figure of Old Testament promise would exercise his kingly power over every realm including demonic darkness and disease. Yet again, the next verse contrasts this confession with opposition. "But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, 'It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons (12:24).
In keeping with Matthew's undercurrent of a global gospel to be proclaimed to all nations, a Canaanite woman (a gentile!) with exemplary faith addresses Jesus on behalf of her daughter just as the blind men had; “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David" (15:22). Again, on another occasion, two blind men continually cry out to Jesus, imploring him as "Lord...Son of David" (20:30, 31). The crowd "rebuked" the men but Jesus had "pity" and healed them (20:31, 34).
On that blessed first Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem surrounded by the shouts of "Hosanna to the Son of David" (21:9). Nonetheless, not everyone would be happy to see their King. The next day, when Jesus had cleansed the temple of extortioners, a multitude of healings took place in the temple and little children praised Jesus, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David" (21:12-15). The chief priests and the scribes, however, were "indignant" (21:15).
After rebutting the trick questions of the Sadducees and Pharisees (who were far from sympathetic to Jesus being the fulfillment of David's son), Jesus poses a question of his own, saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" The Pharisees acknowledge that the Christ is David's son though they are completely stumped by Jesus's next question regarding the supremacy of David's son over David himself. How could David, in Psalm 110, call his son "Lord" (22:41-46)?
In the words of Jesus Christ, "Whose son is he?" Jesus is the heir of an eternal kingdom over all the nations. He is David's offspring, God's own Son. Is he your King?
